Clean mobility: New emissions tests become mandatory for all new cars from 1 September 2018

Clean mobility: New emissions tests become mandatory for all new cars from 1 September 2018

Published on: 31/08/2018

As part of the Commission's dedication to protect Europeans from exhaust gas pollution, as of tomorrow any new car will have to pass new and more reliable emissions tests before it can be driven on European roads.

Two new tests will ensure more reliable emissions level results and help rebuild confidence in the performance of new cars: an improved laboratory test ("World Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure" – WLTP) as well as a test in real driving conditions ("Real Driving Emissions" – RDE). These tests became mandatory for new car models in September 2017 and are now being extended to all new cars.

WLTP is a more stringent and reliable testing procedure in the laboratory. It provides fuel consumption and CO2 emissions values that are much closer to real world conditions than the previously used procedure (New European Driving Cycle - NEDC). The Real Driving Emissions (RDE) procedure measures emissions of NOx and ultrafine particles from vehicles on the road.

Beginning from January 2019, independent parties, including the Commission, will be able to perform officially recognised tests through accredited laboratories and technical services. Type approval authorities will have to check each year the emissions of a number of vehicles already in circulation.

Commissioner Elżbieta Bieńkowska, responsible for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, said: "In the last three years since the emissions scandal broke out, we've cardinally changed the rules of the game to prevent emissions cheating, protect our public health and the environment, and boost our industry's global competitiveness. Stronger emissions tests are a key piece of the puzzle. But we are not there yet. I mean: ongoing national investigations, the state of recalls of non-compliant cars, the roll-out of new type-approval rules – and the transition to low emission mobility."

New emissions tests phasing in step-by-step

Until recently, car emissions were only measured in the laboratory. To ensure the most realistic and robust measurement techniques possible, the Commission started developing WLTP and RDE in 2009 and 2011 respectively. As usual, stakeholders, including the automotive industry and environmental groups, were involved in the preparation of the legislation.

The RDE test is relevant for NOx and particulate emissions, which are a major cause of air pollution, will be measured more reliably in real driving conditions. This test complements a new, more realistic laboratory test procedure (WLTP test) for all emissions including CO2 and fuel consumption as well as NOx and other air pollutants.

From 2021, fuel and energy consumption will also be monitored when the car is on the road. Since the fuel consumption directly correlates to how much CO2 a car emits, this will allow for the first time a comparison of laboratory results for CO2 emissions with those under average real driving conditions.

Until 2021, the CO2 emission targets for each manufacturer will continue to be assessed under the NEDC, but the actual tests carried out during type approval of new vehicle models and new vehicles are transitioning from NEDC to WLTP.

The new CO2 emission reduction targets for 2025 (-15%) and 2030 (-30%), proposed by the Commission and currently under discussion in the European Parliament and the Council will be defined on the basis of WLTP.

Three years since Dieselgate

In September 2015 systematic and extensive cheating by car manufacturers during emissions testing was revealed. On the basis of the work started already some years earlier, the Commission was able to react with a series of actions for a clean, sustainable and competitive car industry.

In January 2016 the Commission proposed a fundamental reform of the system of type approval of vehicles. The new rules were adopted in spring 2017 and will become mandatory from September 2020. They will raise the quality level and independence of vehicle type-approval and testing, increase checks of cars that are already on the EU market and strengthen the overall system with European oversight.